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A statement posted last night said: 'I am very, very sorry to inform you
all that tragically, my brother Choje Akong Rinpoche, my nephew and one
monk who was travelling with them, were all killed in Trengdu
today.

'Rinpoche's body has been taken to hospital where a post mortem will be carried out.'

Founder: Akong came to the UK in 1963 and founded the first Buddhist monastery in the West in 1967

Akong Rinpoche - who was addressed as such because of his respected status in the Tibetan Buddhist community - was born in Tibet, but fled to India in 1959 following revolution.

Although he was part of a group of 300 to leave for India, only 13 are said to have made it.

He came to Oxford in 1963 to learn English, working as an orderly in a hospital to support himself, before eventually founded the Scottish monastery - the first of its kind in the West.

Around 60 monks and lay people still live at the monastery today.

The UK Foreign Office said: 'We can confirm the death of a British national in Chengdu, China, on 8 October.

'We are providing consular assistance to the family at this difficult time.'